Drawer construction



Patented July 7, 1925.

UNiTE D STATES PATENT i oFFicEQf i GEORGE HENRY WHEARY'; or EMINE, WISCONSIN, AssiefNoa. To WHEAY BUnGrEv TRUNK COMPANY, Ol? RACINELWISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 4OF WISCONSIN.

DRAWER co'Ns'iiRUc'rIoN. f

'Appneatimfued August 4, 1292s. serial vNageaazoi'f l,

To all 'whom z'zfmay concern."

Be it known thatl I, GEORGE vHENRY` WHEARY, a citizen lof the United States, and resident of Racine, in the county` of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in vDrawer Construction, of which the following is a def scription, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification. v

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements `in drawer yconstructions, and refers more particularly to Ya convertible drawer for trunks of the wardrobe type. v Y

In wardrobe and other trunks it is ydesirable to provide a compartment of ample size adapted to carry one or more ladies hats, which compartment, when not in use for hats, may be employed in the ordinary mannerasdrawers for other articles. In Letters Patent No. 1,125,421,v issued l Jannary '19,` P1915, and No. 1,159,317,l issued May 11, 1915, drawer constructionsare illustrated for accomplishing this purpose.'

These structures, however, are cuinbersome, Vexpensive toy manufacture and lack that simplicity necessary for a commercially successful wardrobe trunk and,therefore, it

is an object of my invention to provide a drawer construction wherein the same may be either used as an ordinary drawer or in` verted to provide, with lthe drawer there# beneath,.a hat compartment.

This invention has for another object tov provide a drawer having its front face in the form of a hinged. door 'adapted to be readily releasably secured in closed position.

A further object ofthis invention is to provide a drawer of the character described having means for preventing the spreading of the walls when the door is in closedy po-4 sition whereby the drawer has the strength of the ordinary drawer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide adrawer ofv the character describedy having the forward edges of its side and bottom walls faced with a metallic band or strip to which a front portion is hingedly connected, the front portion having means providing a rigid connection with the bottoni and side walls when the drawer is closed to form ra durable and rigidl'drawer.

And astill further object of this' inven# tion' resides in the provision 'of av drawer construction of the characterdescribedin which the movable front face orvr door there? of is provided with' a spring lock engageable with the adjacent side wall of-` the drawer proper when closed to readily releasably secure the dooryclosed, the lock preferably having'means to prevent springingv or spreading of the side walls and the' consequent disengagement' of the lock.

Iith the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description prof` ceeds, my invention resides inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter'described and more particularly defined by the appended claims,`it being Aunderstood that-such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention ,construct-` ed-according-to the best mode I have s'o fai devised for the practical application'of the principles thereof, and in which: 1 i

Figure ,Y 1 ris a fragmentary, perspective viewof the lower portion of the drawer and wardrobe 'sections ofL a vwardrobe trunk equipped with a convertible drawer embodying my invention; l

Y lFigure 2. is a view similar to Figure 1 merals designate like parts throughout the several views; 5 designates the wardrobe section of a trunk and 11 the-drawer section, in which a plurality ofdrawers 12-are independently slidably mounted and adapt# ed to be locked against unauthorized removal, by a locking bar 13. l

One ofthe drawers 12 is preferably pra` vided with* special iittings, not shown, te

"Eachfdrawer has its front wall ory fa'cef1`flV secured in placeY byl an I angle rband' orstrlip member 15 which'is preferably constructed as illustrated in Figure 3 with a "l'ateralf'extension or flange 16 at its apex to provide a stop engageable withtheforwa'rdedge 17 ofl thetrunkside walls'to limit the inward slidingA 'movementfof the drawer'.

The front ivall 14 of' the' drawer 12', in Ylieu of being Vrifggidly'secured to theY bander strip member 15,V has oneendy hingedly connected with the strip lmember,l as at 18, permittingwits free swinging to andj from closed 1 position to facilitate Ythe opening of the drawer V12-'containing the hats or v'otherl special articles. A spring lock 19 comprisingv aifronttlphtteQO having a. part 21 eX- tendedVbeyond the kend `and then ldirected inwardly, `as' at 22, tov engagef'in a slot or opening L43 in the strip member 15 when the drawer is closed and a bolt housing 24 in which va. bolt 25 is slidably mounted is carried by thedoor 174' at its freeen'd.

BoltfQ yis normally vyieldably urged outwardly-by 'a spring 26, andthe outer end-27 thereof is tapered tof-permit the y'm0-vement thereof against its spring when-the front 14 is closed, lthe'boltengaging be'hfi-nd the front-face portion fof the strip 15, -as best illustrated in Figure 3. To unlock the ydoor or front face of thedrawer-12', the bolt 25 is provided wit-h ar -pino'r-lugfQS which projects beyond theffface ofthe plate 2O through =a slot or openii'ig-Qtherein.

iis-'will be readily'obvious, the projections 21-and 322 Vnot 'only Vprovide acover for the bolt 25, lbut fli1nit tle inward-or closing movement of the door `and prevent spread Aing of the drawer side walls. V'.llofurther limit closing movement'and prevent' crushing in lof" thefront "wall'lll, onel'or more lug vnfiembers SOaresecnred' to the-frontv'adjacent its 'lowermost edges, when the drawer f is in normal position, and overlie the front face ofthefstr-ip 15. `The:lugsBO have their outernnost ends directed inwardly, as at 31, to form projections adap'ted'-tlo engage in 1 'slots '32 'in theV strip I1`5'ito thusfprevent spreadingof the bottom'A wall ofthe drawer,

' as `will 'be readily obvious.

TWhen notzin use to'form part `of -a `hat or other special'compartment, drawer 12 is invertedl from the; posit-ion illustrated' in the drawings v'andniayr then be' used `as an' I ordinary drawer. The construction illustrated insures the strength and rigidity ofanordinary drawer Ihavi-ng'a fixed front,and^when it is `Adesiredto' use the drawer forfa special purpose, wherein it is desirable to remove the contents without'sliding the drawer outwardly, the front may be opened as will be readily obvious.

From Athe; fo'regoingj descr'iptinrV taken in connectionl with the accompanying drawings,V it will be readily app-arent that I provide a drawer l of the -eharaeter lldescribed which -will-not iirfan'y fnianne'rl1nar'-the general attractiveness of the trunk, which will be lstrong and durable, and which may be used as an ordinary drawer, as a special comipartment or inverted and employed in conjunction with the adj acentrdrawer to form a' large" compartiment forithe receptionfof hats or any other articles. p

What lclaim as my invention is: 1.y In azdevice ofthe character describe-d, a drawer Ahaving its vfront open, a hinged door -norm-ally fclosing the 1front of theA drawer, a flockfcarried by the door andengageable kwith the adjacent drawer wall) when closed to releasably "securethfeldoor closed, and atpart carried bythe lock Yand engageable in adrawer recess tofprevzent spreading of the drawer walls -Ewhen the f door is closed. x Y Y ,j

2. .In a device of the character described,

a Vdrawer,"comprisingfbottom, rear andend walls, an infwardly extending strip member carried by the .front edges vof the vdrawer' walls, `a-dooryforming `a drawer frent wall,

means Y hingedly connecting one end V'of' the door with lthe -strip member adjacent one sidefwalfl, and locking 'means carried by the other end ofthe' door andV engageable with the stripmember-adjacent* the 'other side wall to' -releasably 1 secure the-v doer in closed posit-ion.

3511i a devicefoff-the characterr described,

a drawer, comprising 'bottom,-rear Aand end walls,f`anY inwardly'V exten-ding strip member carried' by the front edges of the 'drawer wal-ls, a vdoor yform-ing a Vdrawer front wall, means hingedlyn connecting vthe door with the A'strip member, locking lmeans' carriedI lby the door and including'a spring-urgedl lockllO ing 'bolt adapted' to" engage behind/the 'strip V member to releasarbly secure :the door 'in closed position, andalprojection carried by the-loclringfmeans and engageable vin a recessI inthe'strip member to prevent spreading of the 'adj acentl drawer wall.

4r. VIna device o'f-'the character described, a drawer, comprising bottom,"rear-andend walls, Ia -door .previdi'ng a front wall therefor, means connecting'foneendfof the dcor with `oneA end wall, the other e'nd wall 'and the bottom wall '-'having -locl ing-rec`esses therein, means' carried; by the door and engageable Vinsaid locking `recesses 'when Vthe door'is closedftofpre'vent spreading of the drawer "walls, and-@meansoperableto lock the door iirclosed"posi-tion.

Ina device 'of'thecharacter described, a drawer, comprising bottom, rear and end walls, an inwardly extending strip member carried by the front edges of the drawer end and bottom Walls, a. door forming a drawer front Wall, means liin'gedly connecting one end of the door with the strip memdrawer in closed position, and a laterally 10 and Vinwardly extended projection Carried by the door adjacent its lower edge and engageable in a recess in the strip member at the bottom Wall to prevent spreading of thebottom Wall when the door is secured in 1b closed position. y.

In testimony vwhereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE HENRY lVHEARY. 

